Students using Bakersfield College’s computer commons suspect that there is something top secret going on in the Media Services area.

That is not the case, according to Greg Chamberlain of the Learning Resources and Information Technology who oversees media services.

According to Chamberlain, there is simply some media-oriented equipment not available for student use. Also, using the term “media center” is technically a misnomer, according to Chamberlain. The more accurate term is media services department.

“There is no ‘media center’ here, and if there is, I’m not aware of it,” Chamberlain said with a smile.

Under the more proper appellation of “media services,” the department makes audio and visual tape duplications available, and features a Professional Growth Center, which provides services to teaching staff.

These services include workshops on how to write good exam questions and an eight-week workshop on how to shoot videos. This media services department also facilitates distance education courses, including health, political science and others.

Speaking of the primary purpose of BC’s media services department, Chamberlain says that the department tries to provide “support for faculty and staff to teach.”

With regret, he mentioned that the media services department would like to see the addition of teleproduction courses, but they don’t currently have the funding to do so.

“In a perfect world we could add these courses, and we’d love to, but we are not in a position to do that,” he said.